dwm aka dynamic window manager is a tiling window manager. It does get some time to get used to. It is fully customizable and here are my tweaks.
Vendoring dwm for my ease of use, as it is quite stable anyway. Started out with version 6.1. 6.1 is dependent on dmenu 4.6, meaning you need to upgrade that as well.
Have cherry-picked a bunch of commits between 6.1 and 6.2, to counter a bug that I was facing. So the code is now in a wierd fork of the original with patches.
Just edit the "config.h" file. Save and
sudo make clean install
I almost always need Firefox. So,
static const char *ffcmd[] = { "firefox", NULL };
//later add this row in the keys section
{ MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_f, spawn, {.v = ffcmd } },
You get the idea. Just make sure no key binding clashes occur.
So terminals are something I need aplenty.
Current keybindings:
Alt + Shift + u -- urxvt
urxvt with tmux is the only thing I am using these days.
Terminals had a problem of empty spaces around them. This has now been solved.
See this for an awesome terminal independent drop down setup. I use it with urxvt + tmux, which gives me everything needed. The problem is that on dwm, you cannot easily achieve the full effect of a dropdown terminal with this setup. See the Word of Recall section below.
To achieve true power on windows, I tried taking a peek into tdrop mentioned above. Turns out that the secret sauce is windowunmap command of xdotool. Now you can summon and dismiss windows from the void in dwm too.
For an example, look at the included wor-sp script, Word of Recall Scratchpad. This brings up or dismisses a terminal, the same terminal, floating near the bottom right corner of the screen every time it is run. The idea can be trivially replicated for any class or type of window or specfic instances.
This is basically suited for long running special programs that are needed. See the below section Summon and Dismiss for other programs.
Ever tired of some windows that you don't need right now? Either it is taking a full tile in your tag or you put it into a seperate tag where it is cluttering and wasting space.
Now with the Summon and Dismiss, you can send windows into the void and summon them when you need it again. Brought to you by the power of xdotool and dmenu.
Look at the summon and dismiss scripts included. Either bind them to some keys or call them directly from dmenu.
Dismiss waits for a cursor click on a window. Any window you click will be dismissed into the void. But don't worry, it can be retrieved safetly. You may dismiss any number of windows without care or concern. When you are ready to bring a window back, call the Summon script. Dmenu opens up with a list of windows that you have dismissed. Select the window you want and it's back in action.
Also using xcape to overload modifiers.
Some exceptional things can be done with this. Some combos in my configuration now are:
- Use Right Alt and Ctrl to Inc/Dec tag. In combination with nextprevtag patch.
- Use Right Shift directly as Alt|Tab key combination. Once click tag switch.
- Left Ctrl for wor scratchpad terminal.
- Left Shift for cycling through windows in current tag.
With xcape mentioned above, we can go far with shortcuts. However, we can go even further. We can create a context aware smart key. In my case, the Windows key, that is Super.
Start with xcape and bind a free key to an unused dwm key combo. In dwm, map the combo to run a script of your choice. In my setup, look at the smart-prefix script. So, far we can run a script with a single key stroke.
Now, fill the script with commands that run based on the current active window. Simple matter of using xdotool to get the title and from there you can have a truly overloaded context aware key.
In my setup, for instance, if the current window is a tmux session, the Super key performs the role of tmux prefix. Else, it opens a new urxvt terminal. Stands to reason that I don't really need a new urxvt terminal if I am using tmux currently. Still, the direct dwm key combination still works if needed.
Uselessgap is a dwm patch to insert gaps between windows in tiling mode alone. Currently included.
Useless gaps, this time for the top bar!!! Included in.
Have separate layout per tag.
All included in the source. Listing here for future upgrade requirements.
- alpha - http://dwm.suckless.org/patches/alpha
- pertag - http://dwm.suckless.org/patches/pertag
- nextprevtag - http://dwm.suckless.org/patches/nextprevtag
- actualfullscreen - https://dwm.suckless.org/patches/actualfullscreen
My original source of the gnome-panel idea. The keybindings source. Some tutorials here and elsewhere.